Police arrest supporters of banned group ahead of rally in Pakistan-administered Kashmir

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ISLAMABAD (AP) — Police in Pakistan-administered Kashmir on Saturday arrested dozens of supporters of an outlawed group that in recent years has staged violent protests demanding improved services and greater rights, officials and witnesses said.

The arrests came a day after the regional government in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, banned the Joint Awami Action Committee, citing concerns over public order and security.

The move followed weeks of tensions between the government and the group over a 38-point charter of demands, including calls for subsidized wheat and electricity. Authorities said 36 of those demands were accepted last year after negotiations involving JAAC representatives, regional officials and Pakistan’s federal government.

Faisal Mumtaz Rathore, the prime minister of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, has said both before and after the ban that he remains willing to meet JAAC representatives to discuss the two remaining demands.

JAAC has refused to call off a protest march planned for Tuesday, insisting on all its demands, according to the regional government.

According to Rathore, one of the two unresolved issues concerns 12 seats reserved for Kashmiri refugees in the legislative assembly.

Authorities have increase security ahead of the planned protest across the Himalayan region, which is divided between Pakistan and India and claimed in its entirety by both countries. The nuclear-armed neighbors have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir since gaining independence from British rule in 1947.

Last year, clashes between the Kashmiri group’s supporters and security forces killed several people, including police officers.

On Saturday, the group claimed that two of its members were wounded when police opened fire. Kashmir police denied the allegation, saying armed men overnight opened fire on officers after being signaled to stop their vehicle.